It wasn't the first flood that made Joyce and Ralph Hoven decide to move. It was the second.

The Hovens, both 79, planned to stay in their house in Sidney, Delaware County, for the long term, despite its isolated location. They were puzzled when friends decided to leave their beautiful home for a retirement community. Then they watched their daughter-in-law struggle to care for her mother as her health failed and wondered how they would manage their big, two-story Queen Anne Victorian when they were no longer strong and healthy. They watched more friends move away or die.

The couple didn't care for Florida, but had always enjoyed Saratoga Springs. They put their names on a waiting list for one of the 60 apartments at Woodlawn Commons, an independent living facility within the Wesley Community. The Hovens put their house on the market and waited for a buyer.

Then the Susquehanna River, which filled the basement nearly to the ceiling in 2006, flooded again in 2011. There was an opening at Woodlawn Commons and the Hovens were ready to leave right away, whether the house sold or not. But an offer was made within a few days of the call from Wesley. Soon, the Hovens were back in a setting neither had experienced since they were in their 20s — communal living.

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Typically, our living arrangements are a series of steps toward privacy as we get older. We start out living with our parents, then move into our own places — a single family house, an apartment or condo — rooms of our own where we are in charge. You have kids and your privacy recedes again. They grow up and leave, and your privacy returns. If you live in the suburbs with some property around the house, your privacy can be absolute, if you want it that way. As people age, some are resolute they will stay in the homes they've long occupied. Others — by choice or circumstance — find themselves back in a communal setting.

Just like in a college dorm, the Hovens can smell other people's cooking smells in the hallways. Instead of property, they are separated from their neighbors by only walls. If anyone was to hold a loud party, they would hear it. But the Hovens both said they don't miss the privacy their house provided. They can eat in the restaurant downstairs if they want company, but usually Joyce cooks. They can socialize when they want to or simply shut the door. When the time comes, there is both assisted living and a nursing home at Wesley. As for catching their neighbors' food aromas, Ralph loves it.

Laura Brodsky and her wife, Wendy Shotsky, of Albany did things a little differently. Both 63, they were raised in typical suburban houses, but they loved the city. When they moved to Albany more than 25 years ago, they bought a four-story brownstone on Chestnut Street, big enough to accommodate their six children. As the kids grew up and moved out, the women decided to move to a townhouse in Guilderland. They were done with maintaining the backyard, done with parking on the street and digging out after snowstorms. In Guilderland, they had a driveway and a garage.

"It was great at first," Brodsky said. "I felt like I was driving into the Bat Cave every night when I came home from work."

They lived in the townhouse for more than 10 years. It was fine. But it was boring. Then they discovered 17 Chapel, a newly renovated seven-story building in downtown Albany that had been a car dealership and repair shop. It had indoor, heated parking. Brodsky and Shotsky jumped at the chance to live there. The 2,100-square-foot condo they bought is actually bigger than the townhouse. Although they are adjusting to the idea of bringing their Scottie, Jackson, up and down the elevator for walks, they love being downtown again, in walking distance of restaurants, the Palace Theater and the Times Union Center.

Michael and Carol Gerrish, both 63, moved out of their Troy rowhouse for reasons similar to those that nudged Brodsky and Shotsky out of their old home. After 18 years of living in suburban Princeton, N.J., the Gerrishes started searching for a place in Vermont. Along the way, they fell in love with Troy. They bought a onetime crack house on First Street in 2004 and renovated it. They lived on the first and second floors and used the third floor for Carol's office and Michael's studio. They enjoyed urban living, but no longer wanted the responsibility of an old house, especially because they often travel for weeks at a time. They also wanted to simplify their lives. They gave away furniture and houseplants and threw out papers they had been holding onto for too many years, Carol said.

Two weeks ago, they closed on a townhouse in Chadwick Square, Glenmont. When they moved to Troy they sold one of their two cars; now that they are in a suburb, they plan to buy a second car. All the outdoor maintenance will be handled through their monthly homeowners' association fee.

"We will miss the ability to walk to restaurants and social spaces and visit friends, but we will make new ones," Carol Gerrish said.